Sheldon Vern Orton

Sheldon Vern Orton passed away at home on December 14th, 2020 surrounded by his beloved family after a long journey with medical challenges this past year. In the end, he passed peacefully, just the way he always wanted.

Sheldon, or Shel as most knew him, was born on November 13, 1937 in Morgan, Utah. He was the youngest of nine children, with three brothers and five sisters. At a very young age, the family moved to Emmett, Idaho where the LDS church was allotting land grants to members for housing and farming. Shel lived in Emmett, Idaho in his very early years, and after his parents moved to Portland to work in the shipyards during WWII, he spent some time with an older sister until he started school. At the age of eight he moved to Portland to join his parents where he attended grade school, junior high and eventually Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon.

At the age of 18, Shel joined the US Marine Corps and served three years active duty, attaining the rank of Sargent and accomplishing his GED. He also served one of those years in Okinawa, Japan, with most of his experience and training focused in communications. At the end of his military tour, he met his future wife, Nancy (Cross) Orton during a leave home from the service. They were married in June of 1959 and returned to Camp Pendleton, California to finish his tour of duty. Shel and Nancy returned to Portland where he applied and was hired by West Coast Telephone as a lineman.

Shel spent 10 successful years with the telephone company, first as a lineman, then a crew foreman, and was ultimately promoted to Supervisor of outside plant construction. During those 10 years, Shel and Nancy moved from Coos Bay and made their home first in the Troutdale/Gresham area and then settled in Happy Valley. They had three children – Shelley, Brian and Erik.

After 10 years with the phone company, Shel had an opportunity to work for an electrical contractor to form a telephone division. After two years, the company decided to continue their business with electrical contracting only but encouraged and gave Sheldon and Nancy the opportunity to buy their equipment and start a telephone construction company themselves, thus becoming Orton Utility Construction Inc. in 1971.

Throughout the many years that followed, Shel and Nancy worked tirelessly as partners to raise a family while growing the business, acquiring many loyal customers, an arsenal of equipment and a wonderful, dedicated group of employees. During their 30 years in business, they brought in two partners who had retired from Pacific NW Bell and formed a small utility business, merging the two smaller companies together to become NorAm Utility. NorAm grew to be one of the premier communications infrastructure construction companies on the west coast, working in 14 western states with over 250 active employees and offices in three states. At the height of NorAm’s success, they were approached by a large publicly traded electrical contractor from Texas looking to acquire successful communications utility construction firms. They made a generous offer to buy the company, paving the way for Shel and Nancy’s eventual retirement.

During his lifetime, Sheldon had many accomplishments including above average military service with advancement in grade; married and raised three children; formed and developed a successful utility construction business; made a pledge to the Masons, Shriners and Elks; and was a gentle and caring man who had many friends and colleagues in business and his personal life. Shel and wife Nancy, along with their three children enjoyed traveling and vacationing in many areas across the Pacific Northwest. They owned a cabin on Mt. Hood and the kids were all active in skiing and snow activities. They also built a beach house in Lincoln City and enjoyed many years together, and as a family, on the Oregon coast.

Shel and Nancy were well known for their Christmas parties attended by employees, customers and friends and were lucky to have a beautiful home with a pool to share many pool parties with family and friends.

After retirement, Shel and Nancy bought a motorhome bus and took to the road, traveling the United States for 10 years, predominantly seeing as many National Parks and historical places as possible along the way. This was a particularly rewarding way for Shel and Nancy to spend their retirement, surrounded by nature’s beauty while making new memories and friends along the way. Throughout his life, Shel was also an avid hunter of big game, waterfowl and upland birds; taught his kids to hunt and fish; loved to play cards in the casino and with friends; created many keepsakes and works of art as a leather crafter and tooler; enjoyed woodworking and participated in too many other activities and hobbies to list. Not to mention Shel was truly the best handyman anyone ever saw.

Shel is survived by his wife Nancy of 61 years, daughter Shelley, sons Brian and Erik and nine beautiful and accomplished grandchildren. If asked, Shel would tell you he had a wonderful life, great friends, terrific kids and all any man could ask for in a long and successful life.